From helicopter to horseback, Brazilian President Bolsonaro breaks COVID 19 protocol to join protesters
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Opposing the orders, Bolsonaro called this to be "absurd orders", and warned the locals that this decision may “plunge Brazil into a political crisis.”
Brazil saw protests and demonstrations as locals urged the closing of the Supreme Court for investigating the right-wing leader, as one of its justices compared the risks to Brazil’s democracy with Hitler’s Germany.
To support the protesters, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro joined a rally on Sunday on horseback in Brasilia.
He flew in a military helicopter over the rally. The protesters welcomed him and claimed this move boosted their morale. The protesters were seen holding banners calling for shutting down Brazil’s Congress and top court, known as the STF.
Brazilian President has slammed the top court for investigating his interference in police affairs and opening an inquiry into his supporters’ alleged libel and intimidation campaigns on social media.
Opposing the orders, Bolsonaro called this to be "absurd orders", and warned the locals that this decision may “plunge Brazil into a political crisis.”
The President has served as an army captain and defender of Brazil’s 1964-1985 military government.
Supreme Court Justice Celso de Mello, who is responsible for investigating a former justice minister’s allegation that Bolsonaro tried to meddle with law enforcement for personal reasons, said the president’s supporters were seeking a military dictatorship.
“We must resist the destruction of the democratic order to avoid what happened in the Weimar Republic when Hitler, after he was elected by popular vote ... did not hesitate annulling the constitution and imposing a totalitarian system in 1933,” de Mello told other judges in a message, as reported by a media organization.
COVID 19 threat
This move by the Brazilian President gained him criticism for not wearing masks and breaking protocols of social distancing, as Brazil struggles to flatten the curve.
Bolsonaro landed amid the protesters in a helicopter, where he walked and shook hands with the prosters, and then trotted out of the demonstration on a horseback.
He was spotted without a facemask and gloves, and shook hands with protesters. This has raised questions about the President not paying heed to the social distancing guidelines in an already coronsvirus-hit country.
Brazil has 498,440 total cases, including 28,834 deaths.
(With inputs from Reuters)